Is Cheating Illegal In Florida?

Believe it or not, yes, it is illegal in Florida to cheat on your spouse.
Florida law provides that adultery is a second degree misdemeanor, and
is punishable by law.

However, as you can imagine, although that law is still on the books, it’s
not enforced. Many people have cheated on their spouses in Florida, including
Tiger Woods, and have not been convicted of a crime.

Cheating can make a difference in the divorce though. In order to get a
divorce in Florida, you do not have to prove that any infidelity took
place - you just have to tell the court that the marriage is irretrievably broken.

You can’t allege that the infidelity was the reason for the divorce.
Instead, you will introduce evidence of your spouse’s adultery when
it is time to divide the assets and award child custody and alimony.

In Florida, judges cannot award one spouse a larger share of the marital
property because one spouse cheated. However, if one spouse used marital
assets on his or her lover, the court can take that into consideration
when dividing the property, and can award the wronged spouse more of the
marital assets.

In general, cheating will not affect whether or not a spouse gets visitation
with the children. It can, however, affect who gets custody.

If your spouse cheated, you may introduce evidence to the court showing
how the cheating affected your children in a negative way, and the court
may decide the adulterer should not have primary custody.

The court can take cheating into account when awarding alimony. The alimony
award is not designed to punish the cheating spouse, however.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

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